Looking to get arty this weekend? Here’s a trio of intriguing gallery shows:

“CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN RUSSIAN ART, 1965-2011”

This exhibit at the Museum of Russian Art looks at how works by 47 artists in the Soviet Union and Russia were influenced by religion and spirituality.

Seventy paintings, works on paper, photography, sculptures and installations take over two levels of the museum. Curator Masha Zavialova explains that exploration of religious and spiritual themes and topics through art was prohibited during the Soviet era. The show includes examples of art based on forbidden religious themes during a time when even depictions of churches were considered religious propaganda.

“Nonconformist artists explored themes of religion and spirituality in many different ways,” Zavialova said. “Some of them would paint more or less traditional scenes from the Bible, churches or crosses. Some would experiment with imagery, like do a cross or angel, but in a contemporary manner like building an angel out of spare metal parts.

“We’ll also show some post-Soviet art when all the restrictions were basically done away with and the Soviet Union was replaced by contemporary post-communist Russia. Then, there was this freedom to do whatever you wanted.”

We encounter signs every day, whether it’s driving to work or shopping in a store. The folks at CO Exhibitions take a different look at signs by highlighting them as art. Featuring four Twin Cities artists/sign makers — Dan Madsen (Dusty Signs), Peyton Scott Russell (Spray Finger), Matt Thompson and Ben Janssens — “Sign Related” includes traditional hand-painted pieces, neon and sculpted metal forms.

“We started realizing there’s a lot of really talented sign painters and sign makers here,” said Mike Davis, who runs CO with Wes Winship. “We thought it could be cool to get some of them in the gallery to let loose from the client work that they do, like making signs for bars and restaurants, and just letting them use their craft and creative outlook for a little something more personal and expressive.

“We see signs every day and don’t really think of them as works of art,” Davis added. “So it’ll be nice to have them use the same techniques and structure but do something a little more personal, a little more interesting.”

The Sami people are not well known, but the American Swedish Institute plans to change that. This exhibit focuses on the indigenous people whose nation spans the far northern parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. The show is divided into five parts featuring 90 works of art with a video depicting contemporary Sami youth culture and an interactive family space for children to learn about the Sami people, who are known for their reindeer-herding skills, traditional crafts and the 400-year-old Winter Market in Jokkmokk, Sweden.

Scott Pollock, director of exhibitions, collections and programs at the ASI, is particularly excited about work by Danish-born artist Birgitte Aarestrup, who will speak at the opening reception at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. The event is $15, and reservations are encouraged.

“We’re not just hanging up her photographs to tell her story of her trip throughout Sapmi and meeting the people in these communities but we’re also taking excerpts from her writing,” Pollock said. “She wrote about her trips too, so we’re adding that to add some insight into the complexity of the culture and how it’s represented. Birgitte’s narrative really speaks to an outsider looking in — that warm, genuine and sincere connection that she was able to make during her trips there. I think most people from the outside would like to have that experience, and she really describes what that felt like and how she made those connections.”

Presented in conjunction with the Sami exhibit is “The Spirit of Place: The Art of Kurt Seaberg and Family,” offering works by Minneapolis artist Kurt Seaberg in the ASI’s Osher Gallery.

Starting in the late '90s as a freelancer covering music, Amy Carlson Gustafson joined the Pioneer Press staff in 2000. These days, she writes about the latest in arts and entertainment covering a variety of topics including TV, radio, comedy and visual art.

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